[Cheesemeister]

Before you go rush out and buy the biggest possible HDD for the Wii U, consider the following.

1 TB = 1024 GB.
2 TB = 2048 GB.

New Super Mario Bros. U is 1.8 GB.
Nintendo Land is is 3.2 GB.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition is 16.7 GB.
Wii U discs are up to 25 GB.

A 1 TB HDD can theoretically store 568 copies of NSMBU, 320 copies of Nintendo Land, 61 copies of TTT2, or 40 games at a full 25 GB each.
A 2 TB HDD can theoretically store 1137 copies(!) of NSMBU, 640 copies of Nintendo Land, 122 copies of TTT2, or 81 games at a full 25 GB each.

There is no known disk install feature.

Forget about partitioning. As external HDDs formatted for the Wii U won't be inter-operable with PCs, be sure to think about how many Wii U games you'll be downloading over the course of the generation before you waste money on an excessively large storage device.



See 9:30-10:01 here.

USB記録メディアを使うには設定の中の「データ管理」の「USB記録メディアを初期化する」で初期化をすると、使えるようになります。この際にはWii U専用に初期化され、PCなどで使う際と異なるフォーマットで初期化され、PCなどで使用する事が出来なくなります。USB記録メディアとして使用するハードデ ィスクはPCなど他のデバイスと共用出来ない事は予めご了承ください。

To use an external USB storage device, select Format External USB Storage Device from Data Management in the Settings menu. This will format it for use with the Wii U, a format different from that used by PCs and other devices, on which it will no longer be usable. Please understand ahead of time that a hard disk used as an external USB storage device cannot be used on PCs and other devices.

In Data Management, you must format the connected media drive. Note that this means you cannot use the drive with a PC. SD Cards can hold PC data, Wii Virtual Console, Wii Ware, and Wii save data, but cannot be used to save Wii U [games or] game save data.

Better yet, if you're getting a Deluxe Set, hold off completely and get a cheaper drive down the line when you need it.

Couldn't see this mentioned in the thread, but bear Kryder's Law in mind. Disk space increases as years go by, while price stays the same. Think about how many games you're going to buy in year 1. It may be more cost effective to buy a small drive (say, 40 - 80GB) and then re-buy when you're low on space, especially with the rapidly falling prices of SSDs.

[Medalion]

This system is going to cost a fortune just in separate add ons

[EloquentM]

yeah but I'm sure smash 4 will utilized dual layer discs and I want my 48 GB of goodness on a TB hard drive.

"As external HDDs formatted for the Wii U won't be inter-operable with PCs"

they won't?

[dwu8991]

wat

[el retorno]

who doesn't buy 700+ video games per system?

[elektrixx]

I'm sure other games will come out!

I'm gonna get 2TB because it means I'll never have to buy a drive for it again.

[Linkhero1]

Better safe than sorry I always say.

[MikeE21286]

320 or 500 are the sweet spot.

Best Buy has a 500gb on sale Black Friday for $40.


I will also point out that most Nintendo games are very small in comparison to 3rd party games.

Most 3rd party stuff from the current-gen utilizes nearly a full dual-layer DVD. However I don't know if 3rd party games have been announced to be distributed on the eShop.

[EuropeOG]

I'm sure I would get all physical copies anyway.

[PrimeRib_]

there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to storage space.

[Shane86]

You're forgetting recorded tv shows/movies (you can do that right?)

[Toki767]

wat

Sounds like a 160GB drive would be fine. It's like Sony had it right.

[guek]

I already know I'm not going to go all digital, so a 500GB HD will be way overkill. I'll probably only end up using about a fourth of it but better safe than sorry.

[Tguy]

if I were to get a 2TB, I wouldn't only be thinking of getting it for Wii U purposes.

[rpmurphy]

A 2TB external HDD that you cannot use for anything else, either, since your PC won't recognize the filesystem once it's formatted for the Wii U.

[KillerTravis]

yeah but I'm sure smash 4 will utilized dual layer discs and I want my 48 GB of goodness on a TB hard drive. "As external HDDs formatted for the Wii U won't be inter-operable with PCs" they won't?

This. Dat Sakurai value for your money.

[EatChildren]

Sound advice. 2TB is overkill.

[Currygan]

my premium 32GB will last the entire gen, I already know it

[WonkersTHEWatilla]

I've owned a 250gb 360 for the past 3 years, downloading a good amount of content, and only managed to fill a quarter of that drive.

The people who were upset when they discovered that Wii U would only support up to 2tb drives and not 3tb like Reggie initially said really made me laugh.

[Boss Doggie]

Don't you guys partition?

[SolarPowered]

This system is going to cost a fortune just in separate add ons

One of the first things that came to mind when I saw no pro controller even for the deluxe. Getting the current gen experience without the tablet makes this system nearly as expensive as a basic PS3 model when it first launched.

[MYE]

I prefer retail releases over digital so 200GB is more than enough for me. I cant even fill up my 120GB PS3 slim.

Watch me get by on just the premiums internal memory.

edit:

my 32GB will last the entire gen, I already know it

*high-five*

[KMD]

Consider this, a 1tb drive for this is still cheaper than a 64gb card for the Vita. Go nuts people.

[Dicer]

What a dumb fucking topic, taking 2 small examples and ignoring the huge D/L of Tekken that is there day one...Always good to have more storage than not have enough

[Puppet Shadow]

Before you go rush out and buy the biggest possible HDD for the Wii U, consider the following...

Huh, that actually makes sense. Thanks for saving me a bit of money. :)

[Medalion]

I went and got a 3TB drive 2 weeks ago

Partitioned it into 2 parts, 1 2TB NTFS and the other remaining was FAT32

[metalslimer]

2TB is probably overkill but more and more games will start using more of the bluray space as time goes on.

[Kyou]

got a couple of spare 500s that are going to be great for this

[darkside31337]

Consider this, a 1tb drive for this is still cheaper than a 64gb card for the Vita. Go nuts people.

There is no such thing as a 64 gb card.

[Zeer0id]

I have a couple 500GB drives lying around not getting much use. One of those will do nicely. Just need to buy an enclosure.

[Comandr]

A 1 TB HDD can theoretically store 568 copies of NSMBU, 320 copies of Nintendo Land, or 40 games at a full 25 GB each. A 2 TB HDD can theoretically store 1137 copies(!) of NSMBU, 640 copies of Nintendo Land, or 81 games at a full 25 GB each.

Okay so we have established that NSMBU and Nintendo Land are both small games, but they're both incredibly simple and short (with Mario being completed around the 5-7 hour mark I believe I heard.) Tekken, which I don't expect dozens and dozens of hours of new content from, is, on the other hand, what, 17GB? Once the Wii U's features are more fully realized, higher resolution textures, and everything that contributes to the jump in fidelity will require much greater space than... These two extremely poor examples of what we can expect. My collections typically never grow past a dozen or so games, but I plan on going entirely digital this generation, and buying a lot of eShop and VC games. 1TB might go by astonishingly fast if you're not careful. I'm happy they allow support for up to 2.

[Ondore]

Wasn't Tekken Tag confirmed to be 16.7GB or somesuch?

[Tguy]

A 2TB external HDD that you cannot use for anything else, either, since your PC won't recognize the filesystem once it's formatted for the Wii U.

Oh? Nevermind what I said then.

[Alistair Roo]

I'll probably get a 500GB HDD
not planing to buy/download full retail games unless it's extremely necessary. I love cases too much
most likely for GameCube games if we get them but I'll wait for a confirmation, meanwhile I'll use the internal storage

[KMD]

There is no such thing as a 64 gb card.

32 is max? Ouch, even worse :(

[EuropeOG]

One of the first things that came to mind when I saw no pro controller even for the deluxe. Getting the current gen experience without the tablet makes this system nearly as expensive as a basic PS3 model when it first launched.

pro controller is not needed, gamepad does it all and more, so why would they include it?

[Wario64]

Account for HDD failure too. You probably don't want to stick with 1 HDD for the entire generation.

[CronoShot]

Since I'm not going to download retail software, nor is there any forced installs like on PS3 (that we know of), I don't even think I would need a 250GB HDD.

Looking at Amazon though, seems like the bare minimum is 500GB anymore. Even then I'm having a hard time finding one with its own power supply, although I suppose that's not really necessary.

Any suggestions, GAF?

[Cheesemeister]

What a dumb fucking topic, taking 2 small examples and ignoring the huge D/L of Tekken that is there day one...Always good to have more storage than not have enough

Updated with TTT2 numbers. Even games weighing in at 16.7 GB wouldn't justify such a large capacity.

[Zing]

my premium 32GB will last the entire gen, I already know it

Considering I only own seven Wii games over the past six years, I agree with this statement.

[Heavy]

Porn alone should take a solid 750gigs for me so 2TB it is.

[vareon]

Don't you guys partition?

This is a good question. Can't I just make a partition to be used for the Wii U?

[Somnid]

Buy 1 2TB drive now and another when they release the update. Just in case.

[NintendoGal]

Question to folks with the knowledge: Can you partition off a USB drive? So say 1TB could be used for Wii U stuff, the other for things on PC?

Probably a silly question, but it just popped into my head while reading the OP.

[Linkhero1]

What's all this nonsensical talk. When you guys come to me for my gigabytes, I don't plan on sharing.

[SapientWolf]

Sound advice. 2TB is overkill.

I don't know about that. I'm already halfway through a 2.5TB drive for PC gaming, and I don't even have a quarter of my backlog installed.

[MikeE21286]

Question to folks with the knowledge: Can you partition off a USB drive? So say 1TB could be used for Wii U stuff, the other for things on PC? Probably a silly question, but it just popped into my head while reading the OP.

This has already been confirmed by Nintendo as "no"

[BocoDragon]

I have my 90 PS2 games and 40 Blu-rays ripped to a 2.5 TB hard drive and it's a tiny fraction of the drive's space. People really overestimate this stuff.

[Anth0ny]

500 GB will be more than enough.

[darkside31337]

32 is max? Ouch, even worse :(

Also kind of unfair in general anyway. An external HD isn't exactly a feasible option to connect to a portable device. But yeah Vita memory is expensive.

And the external HD is pretty much mandatory on the 3 GB Wii U.